Oddity
The Oddity is a fictional character from the Wild Cards series of books. The Oddity is a composite joker-ace, a shared body occupied by the minds of Patti Roberts, Evan Crozier and John Sheak. The three minds alternate control of the body (and the appearance of their face) and keep constant communication that isn't visible to non-telepathic outsiders. History The Oddity was formed when one of the three component people was infected by the wild card and fused with the other two to form a single being. They woke up one morning in 1972 to find that they now shared a single pain-wracked body. Unable to return to their former jobs they retreated to Jokertown where they found a new purpose in life to protect jokers from the injustices that were a frequent component of life to the victims of the wild card. In the eighth novel, One-Eyed Jacks, the Oddity became a victim of jumper David Butler and entered in conflict with themselves as a result (since the jumper's power only affects the personality that was in control at that time). The Oddity's remaining two original personalities forced David away from controlling their body, and eventually forced him out and killed him. In the 21st century, Oddity was given a preliminary diagnosis that John might be suffering from Alzheimers disease. His deterioration advanced rapidly, eventually forcing Evan and Patti to hold him down in passive in order to prevent him causing harm. They were only successful to point, and John ascended to the dominant position during a sharp spasm of pain, only to run amok and hurt their friend and benefactor Charles Dutton. Following this incident, the Oddity wandered for a time in reflection on their limited options before Evan and Patti eventually agreed to take the Trump virus. The Trump only freed Patti from the combined body of the Oddity, and she was left a scant few moments to say her goodbyes as the others died before her eyes. Wild Card Traits The Oddity is a composite being, comprised of three individuals fused into one. This fusion has granted the Oddity enhanced strength and durability along with several other side effects. Psychologically, Patti, Evan, and John, take up three positions within the Oddity. One of them is in dominant, and controls the body. Being in control also leaves the dominant personality with the side effect of feeling the Oddity's pain the most intensely of the three. Beneath dominant is sub-dominant, and the person in this role is the most present to the dominant personality in their mental communication, but also feels a high degree of pain. At the bottom is passive, where the personality can communicate from weakly, but also feels the least pain and can gain some degree of rest. When John succumbed to his condition, Evan and Patti worked together to take turns in dominant, while the sub-dominant personality did most of the work to hold John in passive. The Oddity's constantly shifting form causes features to appear and disappear. While predominantly humanoid, they may have additional appendages or facial features. The constant shifting causes them great pain as their bones slide around inside them, and muscles and tendons warp into inhuman configurations. The Oddity can be more resistant to certain types of body control, as evidenced when they expelled David Butler from their body. On the other hand, abilities that target all three minds, such as the Puppetman's, only encounter the same resistance as if dealing with a nat. Appearance The Oddity is the amalgamation of three people and their appearance constantly shifts between all three. The Oddity's appearance is dictated by the mental state of the three personalities. The body will mostly possess the features of the mind that is in the dominant role of the body at a given time, and partially the features of the mind that is in the sub-dominant role. Their body will have little-to-no features of the mind that is in the passive role of the Oddity's shared consciousness. As a result of this fusion, they has something of a piebald look as Evan had dark skin, while Patti and John were white. The Oddity wears a long, dark cloak to conceal their shifting mass. Their face is kept hidden behind a standard steel fencing mask. Personality '']] Patti is empathetic, caring and gentle. Evan is shy and therefore seldom dominates. He was an artist before becoming part of the Oddity and has created waxwork sculptures for the Wild Card Museum. His work is exhibited in various galleries, but he resents the fact that his artistic popularity is largely a result of his deformity. He is bitter about what has befallen the trio and experiences mood swings from euphoria to deep depression. John is the most forceful of the three. He admires Patti's gentle approach, but is the one most likely to use their strength in a violent way. Trivia *The Oddity refers to themselves in the plural. Selected Reading * * * Category:Puppets